It took him a round to really get going, but Maiquel Falcao was always in control.

Fighting for the first time since an alleged heart attack, Falcao dominated Norman Paraisy to earn a unanimous decision in the main event of Bellator 61, which took place Friday at Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, La.

With his win, Falcao joined Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, Bruno Santos and Brian Rogers in the semifinals of Bellator’s season-six middleweight tournament.

Bellator 61’s main-card fights aired live on MTV2 while preliminary-card fights streamed live on Spike.com.

Falcao turned up the heat in the second frame with a steady stream of leg kicks that flatted Frenchman Paraisy’s feet as the round dragged on. An overhand right from threatened to end the bout in his favor, but Paraisy managed to survive, and as he took the fight into deep waters, he didn’t fail to remind his Brazilian opponent of that fact.

Falcao racked up more points in the third but was reversed toward the end of the third round. The two ended the fight swinging for the fences, goading each other the entire way. Although the exchange threatened to go past the final bell, cooler heads remained.

After judges gave Falcao all three rounds on scorecards, he thanked his team and the man upstairs.

“I was thinking about the knockout,” he said through a translator. “He is a tough guy. I’ve always been a fan of Norman Paraisy. I want to thank Bellator for giving me a chance to come back.”

Falcao (29-4 MMA, 1-0 BFC) now has back-to-back wins under his belt on the way to the semifinals of the eight-man competition while Paraisy (10-2 MMA, 0-2 BFC) suffers just the second loss of his pro career.

Vasilevsky batters O’Donnell to dominate late rounds

Vyacheslav Vasilevsky wasn’t able to put Victor O’Donnell away, but O’Donnell was essentially out of the their fight early in the second round.

Vasilevsky dominated the latter part of the opening-round fight to win two of three rounds on judges’ scorecards. But the unanimous 29-28 scores hardly reflected his margin of victory.

After taking a well-placed jab that sent him end-over-end in the cage, O’Donnell’s promising first round, which saw him outwork Vasilevsky on the feet and mat, turned into a struggle for survival as Vasilevsky’s well-aimed punches battered him for almost 10 minutes.

In other words, rounds two and three were closer to 10-8 than 10-9.

Why? O’Donnell did almost nothing but survive. Several times the referee was poised to wave the bout off. That he managed to keep going was a testament to his toughness. But in no way did he offer a substantial offense.

Vasilevsky, meanwhile, had batting practice in the final round of the fight, arms at his sides, tagging O’Donnell at will.

“I want to thank all the American fans who gathered here today,” the Russian said afterward through a translator. “I’m going to keep it entertaining for you guys in upcoming fights.”

Vasilevsky (16-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) hasn’t been beaten in nearly four years and picks up his first win in Bellator.

Santos extended his unbeaten streak to 13 fights by shutting down the elder Santana en route to a unanimous decision. Judges cageside scored the bout 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.

“Tonight I got a very tough opponent, but I was able to follow my strategy and I got the win,” Santos said afterward through a translator.

Strategy, in this case, meant delivering powerful kicks when Santana circled away or backed up. It meant stuffing the submission specialist against the cage, but not giving him too much time to work.

Santos frequently overextended on punches and wound up defending single-leg takedown attempts. But his muscular bulk proved to be too much for Santana to drag to the mat.

In fact, it was Santos who, in the second round, tossed “The Arm Collector” to the canvas after defending a flurry of punches.

Driving forward on a sprawled Santos, Santana nearly sneaked underneath his bigger opponent’s armpit for an impromptu reverse armbar, but he didn’t have the leverage to pull off the slick move.

Santos capitalized on Santana’s fading cardio in the third and final frame by taking the fight to the ground and putting his bulk to good use. Santana desperately grabbed at a leg lock in the waning moments of the round, but Santos escaped.

Santos (13-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) adds yet another decision win to his resume. In all but two of his professional fights, he’s gone to the scorecards.

Santana (17-2, 1-1 BFC) suffers just the second loss of his professional career and sees a six-fight streak come to an end.
Rogers hunts down Vianna prey

In the first opening-round fight of the season-six middleweight tournament, Brian Rogers devoured Vitor Vianna.

Shrugging off Vianna’s multiple attempts to take the fight to the mat, “The Predator” planted a flying knee on the Brazilian’s chin at the 4:14 mark of the first round to advance to the semifinals.

Vianna, of course, tried to stop him with several takedown attempts. But Rogers alternately sprawled and hip tossed him to the canvas, where he landed a few shots from top position before escaping back to his feet.

A right hand from Rogers sent Vianna staggering back, which set up the highlight-reel knockout.

The win puts Rogers (9-3 MMA, 2-1 BFC) back in the win column after a loss to season-five champ Alexander Shlemenko in the semifinals of the tourney. Prior to that setback, he had won seven consecutive bouts.

Vianna (12-3-1 MMA, 2-2 BFC), who Shlemenko beat to take the season-five strap, is now reeling from back-to-back losses following a five-fight streak.

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